A/N: Hello to the souls brave enough to dwell on this journey of following Tonks and the Marauders through their Hogwarts adventures and a little beyond. This is my first attempt at a Remus x Tonks multi chapter fic. Tonks is in her first year, and the Marauders' are in their fifth when the story commences. I'll let you know when a new year begins. You'll also read sprinkles of Lily x James, Sirius, Peter, Marlene, Emmeline, Snape, Hestia, and Mary. I might even throw in a bit of Regulus. Let me know how you like the story and constructive criticism is always welcome.

Disclaimer: I disclaim any ownership

Interwoven

Year 1: Hufflepuff Yellow

Shivering, the girl stepped through the great oak front doors, dripping wet, behind the rest of the first years. She was easily the smallest. Her shoulder-length, bubble-gum pink, hair stuck to her heart-shaped face in an itching mess.

Wrinkling her slender nose, the girl tried thinking of the drying spell she had heard her parents use, but the incantation failed to strike across her brain. Instead, all she could picture were the gigantic tentacles wiggling towards her body before she was whirled out of the liquid depths of the Black Lake and found herself sputtering in the little wooden row boat as the turrets and towers of Hogwarts Castle majestically erupted around her awed eyes in welcome.

Her short-lived adventure in the lake had been a riveting experience, but one she could wait to revisit. The waters felt frigid, and then there was the lack of color. The girl's mind trailed back to the professor's instructions. Her dark eyes blinked in confusion. Due to her reverie, she had missed what the woman had just explained. But no matter, thought the girl with an internal shrug as she scratched at the wrinkled wet mess of fabric covering her arms, she would just watch what the other students did and do the same thing. Her name was bound to be called towards the end. T for Tonks.

xoxoxox

"I've almost done it," exclaimed James Potter.

Potter's voice rung against Remus Lupin's ears just as Emmeline Vance sent Lupin a shy smile and a quick wave before elegantly striding towards the Ravenclaw House Table. Lupin watched her disappear amongst a cluster of girls, chatting, giggling, and catching up after a summer's hiatus. "Done what?" Lupin asked distractedly, trying to seek out the chestnut haired girl amongst all the bronze and blue, but it was a futile attempt as they had reached a crescendo of scarlet and gold.

"Become an Animagi." Potter lowered his voice, walking in stride with Lupin. His hand ran through his dark hair as if he was purposely trying to make it more disheveled than it already was.

"Really?" Lupin gave his friend a discreet smile. Becoming Animagi was the best solution his friends had come up with since discovering Remus Lupin's secret. Taking the forms of animals would allow them to accompany him without putting themselves in danger.

James ceased messing with his hair and dropped a hand upon Lupin's bony shoulder. "Couldn't let your furry little problem just be yours." He grinned cheekily, brightening Remus's mood considerably. Potter's eyes darted around the Gryffindor table until he spotted the individual he was seeking. "Sirius!"

Remus's periwinkle-blue eyes turned where James's voice had carried. A handsome boy sat at the table looking bored. His dark hair had grown considerably over the summer, the thick strands ceasing to spiral a few inches above his broad shoulders. Sirius Black tapped his fingers against the wooden surface of the table in absent fashion. And although his dark eyes brightened when they caught Potter and Lupin, his smile remained strained.

"Thanks," his voice roared bitterly as the boys deposited themselves on either side of him.

"For?" Lupin asked innocently as his eyes darted towards Argus Filch, the castle's caretaker. He was placing an old, patched and pointed hat upon a rickety stool. Lupin wondered if the hat was in better condition than he. The scars weren't so keen on disappearing now. There was one etched right below his collarbone, luckily hidden beneath his button down and Hogwart's robes.

"Leaving me with him." Sirius gestured across the table where a short round boy with straw colored hair and watery blue eyes sat looking sorry and rather frightened. His robes were caked with mud, and his hair and face were dusted with fresh dirt and bits of grass. Peter Pettigrew reeked of the earth.

Lupin pinched the bridge of his nose. His heightened sense of smell made the scent more pungent than it was. Regardless, he shot Pettigrew a sympathetic smile. "What happened?"

"Petey, here, missed a step on the way out of the carriage," answered Sirius. His mouth wilted into a contempt frown.

James Potter roared with laughter.

Peter sunk further into the bench, looking as if he wished it would swallow him up.

"Oh, look," Sirius stated, sitting upright as all confrontation with "Petey" was forgotten. He pointed towards the double doors as they magically burst open to reveal a group of timid yet excited first years filing in. "The sorting is about to begin."

Lupin arched a curious brow at Black. "And why are you so excited?" Sirius had never given any particular interest to the sorting before whereas James would assess the newcomers for potential quidditch recruits.

"My favorite cousin's offspring is starting Hogwarts this year," he answered as his grey eyes roamed over each individual striding towards the rickety stool that looked incapable of supporting any more weight than the old hat. "I want to see where she ends up."

"I swear they get smaller each year," James added, his dark eyes squinting at the line of 11 year olds from behind his round spectacles.

"That's her!" Sirius said, his head ceasing to swerve here and there.

He pointed towards a small girl, her face pointed towards the dark enchanted ceiling, a perfect rendering of the sky outdoors, in a mesmerized fashion. Her robes were a sopping mess, sending streaks of water across the stone-flagged floor as she followed the dwindling line towards the stool bearing the sorting hat.

Professor McGonagall, head of Gryffindor house, called the first student forward, and the hat bellowed "Ravenclaw" the moment it touched his head. Lupin tossed his head towards the Ravenclaw table and spotted Emmeline clapping as she excitedly whispered to the girl adjacent to her. He swore his heart skipped a beat when her sapphire orbs caught his for the briefest of moments, leaving him with notions where he was the one seated next to her as she delicately whispered into his ear.

Pettigrew cast Lupin a curious look, causing Remus to awkwardly smile and quickly turn away from the Ravenclaw table. Instead, Lupin was forced to turn his attention back towards the girl that was Sirius's cousin, once removed. It was then Remus noticed that her hair was bubblegum-pink. It stood out amongst all the usual black, brown, red, and blonde. It was rather intriguing.

The line had grown considerably shorter when Professor McGonagall called out, "Nymphadora Tonks," and the girl with bubble-gum pink hair strode forward with a flush. Sirius smirked. Remus, too, had noticed the frown that graced the girl's heart-shaped face as she made the short journey towards the hat. However, her destination was not reached, and she found herself acquainted with the floor, having tripped over the hem of her wet robes.

Stillness riddled the air a brief moment before the hall was filled with echoed trills of laughter. Even Sirius grinned comically, struggling to keep from joining in. Nymphadora, however, remained unabashed. Picking herself up, she strode towards the hat, this time without a hitch, and as if nothing had happened, deposited herself upon the stool with a confident smile.

Lupin found himself holding his breath along with Sirius as the hat was placed upon the 11 year olds head, delving into the layers of her mind.

Seconds ticked by before the hat shouted, "Hufflepuff!"

Sirius's smile wilted.

A grin broke across Nymphadora's heart-shaped face. Screwing her facial features, the girl cheerfully hopped off the stool. Where her hair was bubblegum-pink seconds ago, it had now turned Hufflepuff yellow.

The Hufflepuffs broke out into an impressive round of applause while other's gasped at the small girl's ability.

Lupin heard Emmeline say, "She's a Metamorphmagus!" but he had no idea what that meant.

"She's alright, your cousin," Potter exclaimed, clapping along with the Hufflepuffs. "That was amazing. Did you know she could do that?"

"Yeah," Sirius said, smiling proudly as if he was the one that had taught Nymphadora how to change the color of her hair.

"A bit clumsy though," Peter Pettigrew added.

xoxoxox

Once the opening feast ended, and the plates magically disappeared through the house tables, Remus Lupin swung his legs over the bench and pushed himself to a standing position. "I'm going to go find…" He stopped the moment he caught the sour look James was giving him. Averting his gaze from his friend, Lupin cleared his throat before finishing his sentence. "Lily."

Lily Evans, a fellow fifth year Gryffindor, was also a prefect. James's frown deepened. However, there was pink, reminiscent of the color of Nyhmphadora Tonks's hair, circulating in his cheeks. "Go be prefects together," James said, turning to face away from Remus. A dramatic sigh followed.

A smirk broke across Lupin's pallid cheeks. "You could ease the jinxing," he suggested.

"And tarnish my reputation?" James challenged, lifting himself up off the bench.

Remus shrugged his shoulders in response. His periwinkle eyes fell to the shiny gold badge, embossed with a P over the Gryffindor crest, pinned to his robes. "You could've been the one patrolling the corridors with Evans then."

A giggle, sounding a tad sinister at the moment, broke out from behind Lupin. "He wouldn't make prefect if he was the last wizard standing."

Remus spun around to face a pretty red head with doe like green eyes. With hands upon her hips, and a gleam in her wide eyes, she stared back at the boys with a scowl that just didn't suit her. However, it vanished the moment she met Remus's gaze. James turned sulky. "I'm sorry we didn't get to catch up properly while we patrolled the Express, Remus." Lily looked sincerely apologetic. "I do hope you've had a good summer."

"No matter," Lupin stated, chancing a glance towards the sulking Potter, who was trying his best to not look offended at clearly having been ignored by Evans.

Breathing heavily through his nostrils, James muttered, "Perhaps someday, Evans." Then he dispersed amongst the crowd trying to exit the Great Hall in search of Black and Pettigrew.

Remus sweat-dropped, running a hand through his honey-brown hair.

The atmosphere had turned oddly awkward, but Lily remained undeterred. "Emmeline's made prefect too," she continued as if James had never graced her vision, or as if Remus hadn't noticed Emmeline in the prefects' compartment on the train. But it was hard not to notice Emmeline Vance with her silky chestnut brown locks and those gorgeous sapphire blue eyes. Then there was the way she elegantly waved as if she belonged to a family of great nobility.

"Hestia's totally bitter."

Remus shook away his thoughts. He was sure he was all pink in the face. His neck certainly felt hot enough. "I-Is she?" he choked out, hoping he had heard Lily correctly for he had lost himself shamelessly in a vision of Emmeline.

Lily beamed him with a smile and shook her head dismissively as if she had seen right through Remus and his thoughts of her Ravenclaw friend. Grabbing a hold of his robes, she steered him through the throng of students trying to head off to their respective common rooms. "Come on, we've got first years to lead and a password to give out." Her eyes fell to his wrist, which had been exposed when initially leading him. "What happened to your wrist?" she asked in alarm, her startlingly green eyes observing the scar he had earned when forced to bite himself on the previous full moon.

Lupin turned scarlet and hastily pulled down the sleeve of his robe. "Quidditch accident," he answered quickly.

"I didn't know you played."

Remus tossed Lily a knowing look. "You do realize whom I'm friends with?" he retorted, referring to James Potter, who was an excellent Chaser for the Gryffindor Quidditch Team.

A mischievous grin graced Lily's lips, which caused Remus to chuckle. "I prefer to forget."